Meet Riverdale’s Polly: Tiera Skovbye on playing the show’s most mysterious character

By: Erica Cupido

March 02, 2017

After weeks of speculation, actress Tiera Skovbye is about to unveil one of TV's most mysterious characters,
Riverdale's Polly Cooper. Despite her absence, Betty's older sister has been at the centre of the teen-drama-meets-murder mystery since its premiere in January, and soon the curtain will finally be lifted on both who Polly is and where she has been.

Vancouver native Tiera Skovbye,
21, was thrilled to join the cast of the show given that she was a huge fan of the Archie series as a child. “I was a blond who was kind of shy, so Betty was my
idol,” she tells
Hello!.

While she can’t reveal whether or not her character is linked to the crime at the heart of the drama, she does tease, "Polly has got a lot more going on
than you realize.”

She also can't help but gush over her co-star and
Beverly
Hills, 90210
alum Luke Perry (who plays Archie’s dad). “He’s the nicest
guy,” she says. “I can totally see how he was the Archie of a show, he’s just
got that vibe.” Another casting coup: Molly Ringwald is set to guest star as
Archie’s mom!

Here, Tiera opens up about Polly's hotly-anticipated first appearance and what it's been like to be a part of everyone's favourite new show.

Tiera, what is it like playing a character that
fans are curious to know more about?
It is kind of funny. There have been a lot of
fans on set [recently] and we’ve been trying to hide certain things that are
happening. It’s weird for me to be in a situation where there are fans around
that we’re trying to hide from. It’s kind of strange, kind of funny.

Did you ever read Archie comics? I was actually a huge fan growing up. My manager – who I’ve been with
since I was 12 – called me and said, “You’re not going to believe it, they’re
making an
Archie comics pilot.” That
was pretty cool.

Polly's younger sister Betty is played by Lili Reinhart.

What was it like joining the cast? We’re all roughly around the same
age, which is really cool. If you watch the first two episodes, Polly is
mentioned a ton. So for them, there was like a lot of anticipation like, “We’ve
heard so much about this mysterious Polly, who is she? What’s really happening
with her and what’s her story?” For them, it was nice to put a face to a name. They
were all so welcoming and sweet.

How do you feel about the ways that the story and
setting have been updated for TV?
What I love is that they have modernized it. But you’ll notice, anytime
we’re around cars, a lot of them are older. There’s also a vintage feel to the
wardrobe that some people wear. There’s a vintage Archie feel, but it’s modernized
[to reflect] everything that’s going on right now.

What about the characters? I feel like having Betty and
Veronica be a team and support each other is something that young girls need to
see. We need to know that we have each other’s backs. Women are so much
stronger when we’re connected. It’s important that we stick together.

What can you tell us about your character,
Polly?
People will
be quite surprised by Polly when you meet her. She was in love with Jason, and
he was the one who died. I think a lot of people don’t realize that maybe their
love story wasn’t as treacherous as you think. I think she is a lot tougher
than people think.

Which cast member is least like their
character?
They all
kind of surprised me in their own way. I’m close friends with Madelaine Petsch,
who plays Cheryl Blossom. It’s always funny for me because she says the
cattiest lines, and then you meet her and think, “You’re actually really sweet.”
K.J. [Apa, who plays Archie] is the nicest person. He’s got a lot of that
Archie quality already in him.

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